Chris + Edie's Romantic Waterfall Elopment

Edie and Chris decided to elope in Costa Rica at the beautiful La Paz Waterfall Gardens. They stayed at the Peace Lodge, which is the hotel at the gardens. It is high up in the mountains where the weather is a bit cooler and also quite misty. When I first arrived I thought it might rain, but luckily it didn't.

I would recommend to anyone visiting this country to try and include a trip to La Paz as part of their plans. It is truly a unique and unforgettable experience.

The hotel's wedding and event planner, Melanie, was a huge help throughout the day. She stayed with us from getting ready to the very end of our portrait session.

Since it was a car ride and a short hike away to the ceremony, the couple decided to have an intimate first look at the hotel's lake. I could sense they were both a little nervous, not so much to get married, but just to see each other. From the first look we all traveled together to the ceremony location.

La Paz Waterfall Gardens has an amazing system of pathways and staircases all built into the side of the mountain. One amazing thing I learned while there was that in the process of building these walkways they did not cut down a single tree. I was very impressed by this.

The ceremony setup was perfect.Tropical flowers adorned the railways of a private gazebo overlooking the majestic waterfall. 

After the ceremony we continued to hike further into the park. I kept stopping the couple every few feet for a photo, it was just too beautiful not to take photos!

Chris is just one of those guys that does not like to smile for photos. I think I started doing a little dance to try and get him to laugh for this photo, it worked and came out great!

Just before the last light of day we headed to the park's hummingbird garden. This was my favorite part of the day. Hummingbirds buzzed by your head, as if they would run into you, but they never did. You could feel the wind from their wings as they flew by. Melanie put some food of the birds in Edie's bouquet and they began to swarm around the couple. Amazing. Afterwards I held the food in my hand, and held it very close to my face. A bird came and hovered right in front of me, it's wings actually hitting my hand at some points. It was so awesome to experience. 

 Chris is very into snakes, having owned a few himself. The park allowed them to hold a boa for a few photos. Edie played along to make her husband happy.

Photography: Yours Truly
Venue: La Paz Waterfall Gardens
Wedding Planner: Melanie Marsell
Officiant: Marcelo Galli
Flowers: Peace Lodge Hotel
Hair and Makeup: Arama Salon